Charter33

Thank you for your generous comments, Christian. I apologize for not being in a position to reply sooner which brings me to the main reason for this particular up date.
There has been little progress recently, initially due to work pressures (the end of a school term is a busy time!) and then at the start of the new year I finally was given a date for a follow up medical procedure that had been on the cards since August last year. I have subsequently been off work, returning home after a month in the very capable hand of the NHS yesterday. Access to this site was limited to very variable connectivity with my phone, but being able to follow the work of others here certainly helped the time to pass. 
I have, therefore, had to put this build on temporary hold . I will get back to it, I promise. It's a real challenge, and a steep learning curve, but so much fun. When I am up to it I intend to drop into work and while there I'm planning to pick up the cherry pieces that I've prepared and print off some frame drawings so that I can at least make some progress back home with my more limited equipment.
In the mean time I will be focusing on my HMS Victory build and, for a bit of a technical challenge, continue working on my design for a rope walk.
The secret is to stay positive and as busy as possible. Onwards and upwards ......
 
Cheers,
 
Graham.

Today I worked on planking the gun deck . I used the same technique. That I used on all the other planking . Cutting my strips a bit larger than needed with a razor knife, then clamp them all together  and sand them down until they reach the desired size and they are uniform . I then burned the edges to simulate the caulking .
i them proceeded to glue them down . Once the glue cured I did my tree nailing . I also got another gun port installed , I would have gotten both installed but I broke one of my assembled gun piers and had to make another.
 
here is how she’s looking 

 
Thanks for checking her out.
 
Derek C

Thank you for your generous comments, Christian. I apologize for not being in a position to reply sooner which brings me to the main reason for this particular up date.
There has been little progress recently, initially due to work pressures (the end of a school term is a busy time!) and then at the start of the new year I finally was given a date for a follow up medical procedure that had been on the cards since August last year. I have subsequently been off work, returning home after a month in the very capable hand of the NHS yesterday. Access to this site was limited to very variable connectivity with my phone, but being able to follow the work of others here certainly helped the time to pass. 
I have, therefore, had to put this build on temporary hold . I will get back to it, I promise. It's a real challenge, and a steep learning curve, but so much fun. When I am up to it I intend to drop into work and while there I'm planning to pick up the cherry pieces that I've prepared and print off some frame drawings so that I can at least make some progress back home with my more limited equipment.
In the mean time I will be focusing on my HMS Victory build and, for a bit of a technical challenge, continue working on my design for a rope walk.
The secret is to stay positive and as busy as possible. Onwards and upwards ......
 
Cheers,
 
Graham.

Been a long while since a good update. RL getting in the way with a new job.   But back for a while as we are moving.  Going to be doing a little bit more on the for stays, then it will be boxed until the move 
 
Ratlines 99% Complete.. Worked on the Mizzen stay and the Main Stay.....

Answered my own questions and I'm impressed. Per the manual, I mixed some Linseed Oil & thinner and applied that to the foredeck - applied thick but wiped it up immediately. Then it needs to dry - I left it for about 3 hours. So that was the mixture on raw wood. It looks really nice! So nice in fact that I wanted to put some on the aft deck which I applied stain to last nite. Sanded it first with a 600g sand sponge then applied the oil. Again, very impressive. I don't think the pix show it very well but the wood has a very deep, rich look to it.  Zoran - you are on to something!  I'll be doing this from now on for stained areas.
 

 

 

 
So I need to stain the fore deck and will be ready to finish off the other deck items.

Time for another Progress pic or six. I've finished both superstructures to the stage where I can fit them to the main deck. I won't do this just yet in case there is a problem with any further sub-assemblies. Here's the aft superstructure :



 
And the fore :





 
  Danny

The planking is coming next…. The initial planking strip is the one at the level of the covering board (or at the level of the deck rail in the other words)… This strip will determine the line of the planking strips, the proper curvature of it. The Garboard strake is the second planking strip to be installed. After Garboard strake, there are some more strips next to the initial one and then follows the closing of the hull. Drop in planks are to be avoided, but it is not mistake to use them … In the end there is the hull closed completely… The freeboard is to be installed in the end of the planking process…
 

Deck planking is complete although the finishing process is still in the works. At milestones like this I always try to to just leave things be and move on to the next task. The temptation is to paint/stain/finish whatever it is I have been working on. I think we all want to see how it will look close to being finished so we tease ourselves.   I couldn't resist either so while the foredeck is still being sanded I did put stain on the rear deck.
 
So it's walnut sticks, Minwax Pre-stain and Minwax Natural stain. Like I said earlier, everything above the wale will receive this same coloration which really doesn't stain like we are used to seeing. If you've ever wiped a damp rag over raw wood, that's about what the Natural stain does. Personally, I really like this stain.
 
I ended up being off by one plank on each side of the fore and after decks. I used 1 less. But I am OK with the result.
 
So have a peek.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deck planking continues. I've been digging thru the pile of sticks trying to separate lighter colored ones from darker so that I can make a pattern similar to the pix in the manual. That shows alternating lite/dark sticks. I'm afraid there will not be enough lite ones for both front & back so I will continue on with the pattern on the stern deck since I can get 2 planks from 1 stick. I will need to determine how many shades of dark are left and figure out how to arrange them on the bow deck. Don't read this the wrong way. There are plenty of sticks to plank the decks. It's just that there are a lot more dark colored ones than lite colored
 
The tapered planks are laying well and a slight overall curve is beginning to show itself. I think the sticks are going to end up very similar to the planking plan.

 

 
 
 
I did (or at least have been) working on the hole for the mast. However the drill keeps wigging out - runs for a couple seconds and then stops. So that is still in progress.
 
I think I've done a reasonable job keeping a gap between the plank tips and the waterways. This is done so the planks don't cover up the scupper openings on the rail.
 

 
 
 
 
 
Be

Exterior scupper opening.
 
I have the start of a paint plan in my head. I'm thinking the bottom 2/3 of the hull being a dark forest green. From the wale down to the paint edge I will stain with the same dark stain used in the cargo hold. Decks and everything above the wale will be stained with Minwax Natural. And then a matte varnish all over.
 

… Here is something very interesting for the beginners as well for the experts perfectionists!  The spaces between all of the bulkheads could be filled up with the filler blocks made of some soft wood. We use the lime tree for this purpose, it is soft to fast and easy shaping, but it is still hard enough to carry on the tension of the planking… After the spaces between the bulkheads are filled up with the filler blocks, the entire construction needs to be sanded and polished. The shape of the full should be perfectly done in this phase of model’s development… It is good to treat it with putty and to polish it, leaving no any gaps… In this way the beginners will be able to set the planking strips very easily and the experts will be able to set the planking getting the perfect shape of the hull… This method is highly recommended by MarisStella…

Have not progressed as far as I would have hoped so far. Had some other things that HAD to be done. Then someone told me there was a football game on this afternoon. Bahh. One of those Who Cares Bowls.
 
Planking is coming along pretty much as expected. The tapered pattern is beginning to show. It's not as much of a curve as I would have expected, but the sticks are turning in. I was wondering where to start the taper on the fat end. I ended up starting about 1" in from the fat end. That little thumb planer is really turning out to be the perfect tool for this job.
 

 

 

 

 
I decided I better stop and figure out the hole for the mast while I can still access the step glued to the keel. So that's the next step.
 

 

Rework is finished All that so I could lay 1 stick. I know it is considered a support, but in the model it is practically useless. As a matter of fact it went in after the rail it is supposed to support See photo below.  Staying with the program.
 
As mentioned another rail is installed. I'm still learning the terminology differences. To me it would be considered more of a waterway than a rail as it is at deck level. Each side was 3 laser cut pieces and they fit together well.
 

 

 
A couple of coamings and a wide center plank went in next. I guess that means I am officially in deck planking mode. One observation/question on that - the pix in the manual show the deck laid with alternating strips of 2 different colors. It appears that only the darker colored sticks are supplied with the kit. Instructions don't mention the alternating color scheme. Maybe that's the Deluxe kit? I suppose I could cut some boxwood if I wanted. Not sure at this point.
 
Deck planking will be interesting. The sticks do not lay all the way out to the lower support rail. There is a gap all the way around. A quick look at the plans earlier, I believe showed the deck planks tapered as they near the bow & stern. At least there is a deck plank plan to go by.
 

 

 

When the construction is firmly connected, it is the time for the fillers blocks. The blocks at the bow and stern are the main ones and it is mandatory to set them up. After some beveling is done, the spaces between the bulkheads at the bow and stern are to be filled with blocks of some soft wood… After this, the preciously sanding is required. The preciously beveling comes with this phase of development of the model…

So, let me continue with this topic please. I am very sorry for letting you be waiting for such a long time...
Let's continue with Stilac ...As the beginning of this log, I would say that this is a model made for the intermediate skilled modellers. The main thing here is to master the round stern. This kind of the stern demands a special care. This is why this model is, if I may say, dedicated to it...
In the beginning there are the constituent parts of the keel and the posts ... Separated and then glued together...
After this, there is the models construction put together. The round bars, dowels, are the ''trademark'' of the MarisStella constructions... When the construction is put together and when the dowels are onto its place, the frames are to be put into right positions and the glue is to be applied with a brush to the points of the elements' connections...

Good morning everyone, I hope all is good and you are ready for another day of modelling. thanks to all for visiting.
 Well another milestone has been reached. Planking is finally complete! After approximately 1200 individual planks, two layers on hull and two layers on deck, this part of the build is now behind me. I opted not to simulate caulking as I usually don't really care for it, however, with my deck I am realising maybe I should have. Looking at my hull I thought there was enough definition between the planks but for some reason the deck is not so. It is very hard to see the butt ends and it almost looks like it maybe one solid sheet of wood. At any rate I am not about to tear it up. As of now it has two coats of wipe on poly and I will put on another two or three.
 The next step will be installing the covering board or waterway which will entail laterally bending a 6 mm plank to the shape of the stern, so we'll see how that works.
 Installing the planking
I used Weldbond glue, ca glue is not required for this step.  Weldbond, with a little burnishing, adheres in seconds proving to be adequate as I had no lifting of the planks after installation.
 Here are a few pictures:
 

Here is my new found plank shear, works great for cutting long angles. I recommend for those of you who have admirals to wait until she is gone before using this tool
 

And here it is in place, well that is not quite true as the one shown above had the glue applied to the wrong side!!
 

This is the burnishing tool I use. Simply just apiece of 13 mm (1/2") square stock. Doing this helps spread and level the glue and flattens out the plank. Sanding and  scraping was so much easier, I think I spent a maximum of 20 minutes of sanding the deck. Well worth the effort to try this if you are not doing it already.
 

 
 As you can see there are no real defined planks or butt ends, but trust me when I say it is a four plank shift and all shift lines are straight 
 
 That's it for today, I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and we'll see you soon

Good Morning all, thanks for all the great comments, visits and likes. Since my last post there has not been too much activity in the shipyard but I have completed the planking on the port side. All went as expected and with no surprises. Unlike the first layer I did not bother to taper the planks resulting in having to use three stealers at the stern, these will be covered by copper plates so I was not that worried about this. I found trying to taper the .5 mm planks was just not worth the effort for something that was going to be either painted or covered with plates. So I guess I did do it the easier way in some ways . I could not resist putting a coat of wipe on poly to see how the beech would look, this will be sanded and act as my sealer for the paint and plates. I really like the looks of the beech and think it is defiantly worth considering for future builds.
 Not much to show but here it is: 

Putting in a stealer
 

Planking completed
 

Stern trimmed
 

Bow trimmed and coat of wipe on poly
 

Wipe on poly is still a little wet, if you look at the transom you can see some of the beech without any poly. Love how this wood looks

A quick up-date........
 
After a bit or re-organisation the workshop now has an area dedicated to the Triton build.
 

 
The first frame has now been completed. I'm thinking about adding some pegs (tree nails?) Assuming that these would have been about an inch in diameter on the original my calculations come out at a gnats whisker over 0.5 mm diameter. I'll try and source some brass wire and see how it goes.
 

 

 
I played safe and worked on a frame from the centre of the hull (0). It currently has excess material at the top which will be trimmed later, but in the meantime this provides support for the acrylic brace that I hope will prevent any movement in the wood.
 
I've also had a go at making a height gauge for transferring vertical measurements from the plan to the model.
 

 

 
 
Cheers for now,
 
Graham.

Hi,
Now that the dust has settled on the start of a new school year I've managed devote a bit of time again to this project and have made some more progress ......
 
Shaping the fore and aft deadwoods was holding me up a bit as I tried to make sense of the various sectional profile drawings. My inexperience was evident as I tried to juggle the various profiles and much time was spent working through the other build logs in this section. They certainly helped, and then I came across and followed the link that Dan Vad mentioned in a post referring to his HMS Vulture build. This proved to be a great help and I can see myself visiting this regularly as my build continues - thank's Dan!
 
In the end you just have to dive in and have a go...
 

 
Using a combination of thin brass sheet and acrylic templates pinned to the aft deadwood the sides were reduced to the required shape.
 

 
My first attempt at tapering the lower end of the inner post was not as successful as I had hoped so a second had to be made.
 
The rebates were then cut in the stern post with a scalpel and lower area worked to match the ajoining components prior to being glued together.
 
A carving knife proved an effective way to cut the curving rebate in the stem and subsequent shaping of the fore deadwood. I expect there will be a bit more work ahead on these later.
 

 

 
At last we have a keel!
 

 

 

 
... and work begins on the frames ......
 

 
Cheers,
 
Graham.

Hi,
The Furniture scratch repair pens arrived .... three different browns euphemistically labeled mahogany, oak and cherry.

The first was as dark as the marker pen I used previously on the aft deadwood, the other two, shown above, were very similar to each other but do not match the woods they are named after, to be honest. The cherry, on the left, was the best of the bunch and it was this that I used on the second attempt at the deadwood and various scarf joints.

It would be wrong of me to criticize these pens without actually trying them for their advertised purpose, but with a working knowledge of furniture restoration and various finishing technique including French polishing there are other processes I'd use to repair scratches first.  The effect of this pen was generally okay although it does have a tendency to bleed,  especially on end grain.
 
Then I came across Dan Vad's advice to Jeff (Zarcon) on his HMS Victory build log about using Pigma Brush pens and archival ink.  More than twice the price of the set of three, but so much better - and worth every penny! I'll be using this for the rest of the build.

I have now completed cutting out all the components for the keel etc.







My next task is to add the rebates and additional tapering to the fore and aft deadwoods, referring to the first plan sheet and the other build logs in this forum - I love a challenge!  Once this has been done, and the parts have been assembled, I hope to be in a position to access the full set of sheets.
 
Cheers,
 
Graham.

The wales form the base for further planking upwards.

I made the center supports for the lower deck  the plans showed square post , but I like the looks of the way G.L.  did his , so I knocked off the corners starting from  1/4 “ in from both ends. 
 
and i I drilled the ends to slide in my pegs .

Then I drilled holes in the bottom side of the lower deck and keelson  and assembled and glued down the lower deck . That felt like a milestone lol .
 
While I wait for the glue to dry I started cutting out pieces for the Main Sheet bits. First I cut blood wood to the desired size and sanded it to the final demensions shown on plan. I then used a coping saw and files to cut my notches
 
Using a drill press I drilled the spots for the sheaves as Tony K and G.L . did in there logs.

 
Now that the glue has dried and I have removed the clamps here is a few pictures of how she is looking.

 
Thanks for looking in on my build.

 
Derek  C

Thank's for your generous comments, Michael and Nigel - much appreciated.
 
With the plating complete I've moved onto the gratings.
I found that a sharp chisel and a cutting mat was my most successful method of cutting the individual components to length.
A simple assembly aid held the pieces in place while the watered down PVA glue dried.
 

 
 
 
Gratings removed ...

 
 
...and sanded.

 
Coamings next. I was a bit disappointed with the quality of the 4 x 3 strip provided. It had a more pronounced open grain and is a much more red colour compared with the other walnut in the kit. 
 
I made the decision to convert the remnants of the 5mm sheet that held the rudder etc. into a suitable alternative. The original strips are at the top of the picture.
 

 
Inspired by having seen Paul B's recent posts and his photographs of these gratings I'm tempted to try his method of dealing with the joints rather than the mitres shown on the plans. Time to 'play' 
 
Graham.

Hi,
Just finished the copper cladding!
I was struggling to see and apply some of the smaller cut plates needed to fill in gaps along the keel and waterline on the first side of the hull so I decided to invest in an illuminated head loupe.  I wish I'd bought one earlier as using it for the first time resulted in me having to re-work several areas as I was not happy with the gaps between some of the plates already in place.
 

 
Also in this picture is the most useful tool I found to hold plates in position for marking out and then positioning whole and cut plates when gluing - Blue Tack on the end of a short length of brass tube.  Even the tiniest pieces could be located accurately although the tip of a scalpel blade was needed occasionally to apply final pressure until the c.a. glue had dried. 
 

 

 

 

 
I followed the kits instruction's and the guidance in The New Period Ship Handbook for the layout rather than more historically correct patterns. I also went with Keith Julien's advice in this book about getting a cleaner looking edge at the waterline by adding 0.05 x 1.09 mm polystyrene strip pre-painted black.
 
The rudder, made from oak from Victory, was the last piece to be tackled. Rather than paint the top, unclad, section I 'ebonised' it using the wire wool and white vinegar technique I described on another thread. This was followed by a couple of coats of satin varnish. The result is a black finish that still allows the grain of the oak to be seen.
 

 

 

 
The three 'Victory' copper plates on each side, just under the entry ports, can be seen in these two views although they are actually less conspicuous than the pictures suggest. There is a little c.a. residue still to be carefully removed with acetone and cotton buds. Fears that I'd run out of plates proved unfounded - just.  Mistakes, re-worked sections and experiments with forming plates to fit around the keel took their toll. Got to the end with about half a dozen whole plates left!
 
I'm happy to have completed this aspect of this model - but you can have too much of a good thing and at this moment in time I can safely say that any kit I attempt in the future will be copper plate free, probably cannon free too.
 
This site is full of pearls of wisdom and two of them that are lodged in my mind at present are:
'Buy your toys before you retire' and 'it's probably best to seek forgiveness than permission'
... just maybe there's room in the 'stash' for a different type of vessel, possibly one rarely found 'outside the Straights of Otranto' ..... waiting for the day when Victory is finished - no rush!
 
Cheers,
 
Graham.
 

Hi,
Other commitments and the odd curve ball that life can throw at you sometimes has slowed progress recently. I have, however, made a little more progress so here's an update.
 
The starboard stern plating has now been completed and the bow is close to completion.

I must admit that there have been some sessions where I seemed to be picking more plates off than I was putting on but I'm fairly happy with the result so far. Finishing along the waterline and adding the 'stealers'(?) into the pattern was challenging at times as well as time consuming.
 
As bit of a break from this section of the build I decided to have a go at working out how to produce some of the rigging on the gun carriages. Following David's (ShipyardSid) advice to  Robert(22564) I threaded the appropriate eyelets etc. onto the rope before these are later fitted to the carriage and ceiling.

 
The ends of the rope were then bound with thread.
 

 

 
Right ...... back to plating .....
 
Cheers,
 
Graham.

Hi,
A couple of diverse reasons for this up-date ...
 
Firstly - Robert, thank you for the compliment about my jigs and this post also includes a very simple one. I'm a regular visitor to your build and love the quality of your model and agree with your decision to leave your hull planked and copper plate free - that skillful work needs to be seen to be fully appreciated!
 
The second purpose is the result of the dreaded PB changes to my account, third party hosting etc. and an attempt to see if I can still access and use my photos. I only use PB as a simple means to 'size' my pictures - I have found that by just up-loading pictures and then re-saving them on a memory stick, and using the latter as the source to add the photos to my posts, the pictures can be added without the need for any more adjustment to meet the required parameters. To be honest I struggle with image manipulation software at times. It appears that I can still use PB successfully, frustrating as the adverts and 'pop ups' are. Yes, I could pay to avoid them, but I'd rather be investing the money in materials and tools. 
This approach, however, and my reluctance to embrace change is in some ways a reflection of a phobia of the new .... time to have a go at uploading directly through the MSW route I think, after all how hard can it be? - next time...
 
As a break from copper plating I decided to look at the mounting of the cannons and to complete the construction of a gun carriage to check out the assembly process. This jig was made to help with marking the position of the eyelets either side of the gun ports.


I've added additional rings to the sides of the carriages to make the run of the ropes more like the real thing, as many other builders have done. An improvised 'draw plate' helped reduce the size of the end of the loop that then holds the guide ring.


 
The assembly of the carriage was very straight forward and presented no major issues, but those eyelets (480) are so small! I swear that there is nothing wrong with my eyesight - but my arms must have shrunk as they are no longer long enough to be able to hold small components in focus. Time to visit the optician again ....
 
Cheers,
 
Graham.